A false analogy occurs when someone reasons that because two things are alike in some respects, they must be alike in other respects as well. Such analogies can break down quickly due to significant dissimilarities between entities being compared, which may render superficial similarities irrelevant or trivialize their importance (Huemer, 2004). An example would be comparing Flip damaging his computer and Trip damaging his body through drug use – while one’s body can technically be considered property like possessions such as computers or phones, fundamentally, it is different due to its close connection with health, wellbeing and impact on others; thus harm caused by abusing one’s own body carries much more severe consequences than the damage done to material possessions does.
Inductive reference pattern: Hasty Generalizations
Hasty generalizations should be avoided when discussing policies related to illicit drugs. For example, one could claim a premise that alcohol, tobacco and fatty foods kill more people annually than illegal drugs (without evidence for actual statistics) and use such statements as the basis of an argument towards full legalization or decriminalization of all substances (Huemer, 2004) – however this is likely a hasty generalization because no evidence was provided to support the mortality rate data presented in order to make such conclusions possibly even accurate; the sample size might also have been inadequate or simply unknown. There are also multiple dissimilarities between many types of substances, which render comparisons between them questionable, making any results from them unreliable.
Personal Opinion
It should go without saying that personal opinion (‘I believe’) has little place in discussing policy decisions concerning criminalizing or legalizing certain forms of drug use since forming biases can significantly affect logical reasoning when attempting to draw reliable conclusions on matters related to complex topics like addiction and substance misuse. With this caveat of the way mentioned, I hold my belief that marijuana psychedelics (LSD, psilocybin, etc.) should decriminalized for private adult consumption. At the same time, hard drugs need tighter regulation due to their high levels of addictive potential, causing significant problems in society; if ever fully legalized and regulated, the chances of abuse/misuse would rise exponentially. I base my reasoning on the following foundations:
- Marijuana and psychedelics have certain benefits to offer (mainly medical) with manageable risks attached, which criminalizing them tends to do more harm than good;
- Regulation through legal channels allows greater control over product safety than what would be possible via black market avenues, thus preventing people from misusing or abusing substances due to lack of access to safe products;
- Tax revenue generated by such an endeavor could fund various addiction treatment programs and initiatives related to harm reduction, thus helping reduce the strain society puts on it both morally and financially due to drugs-related issues and social justice concerns;
- Keeping hard drugs illegal limits their availability in wider markets/populations, thereby decreasing the chances of widespread usage abuse in cases full legalization ever occurs. It is way better to regulate and discourage drug use rather than allow anything to be a possibility.
In conclusion, a nuanced policy that considers multiple points of view is needed when discussing matters related to substance misuse decriminalization legalization (Huemer, 2004) – analogies oversimplify complex issue and situation that needs to be tackled set framework taking both societal and individual level into account in order to minimize avoid damage associated misuse either form while ensuring responsible individuals given freedom choice relevant findings kept sight overall objectives cannot lost fractured approach taken this subject matter could prove highly damaging long run if mistakes made prejudiced opinions taken over facts.
Reference
Huemer, M. (2004). AMERICA’S UNJUST DRUG WAR. https://rintintin.colorado.edu/~vancecd/phil215/Huemer2.pdf
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